Car-door opener



D. WIMILLSAPS.

CAR DOOR OPENER. APPLICATION min Nov. 24, 1911. RENEWED MAR. 2

Patented Nov. 1, 192 1.

I figlf 46 I CAR-DOOR OPENER.

Application filed November 24, 1917, Serial No. 203,810. Renewed March24, 1921.

To all who met may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL W. MILL- SAPS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Greenville, in the county of Greenville and State ofSouth Carolina, have invented new and useful Improvements in Car-DoorOpeners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved handle or opener for slidingdoors, such as the doors of railway freight cars, and it is animprovement on the device of this class for which Letters Patent of theUnited States, No. 973,773, wereissued to me on October 11, 1910.

One object of the present invention is to produce an improvedconstruction whereby the pole which constitutes the door handle will beheld steady during operation preventing the pole from bending when madeof light material.

A further object of the invention is to provide the pole with ananti-friction roller to facilitate the movement of the pole along itssupporting rod when desired, the lower end of the rod being usuallyswung down ward with respect to the door when such change in positionhas to be effected, said roller serving also to prevent the lower end ofthe pole from swinging outward with respect to the door.

With these and other ends in view which will readily appear, as thenature of the invention is better understood, the same consists-in theimproved construction and novel arrangement and combination of partswhich will be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed outin the claims.

In the accompanying drawings has been illustrated a simple and preferredform of the invention, it being, however, understood that no limitationis necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited.but that changes, alterations and modifications within the scope of theclaims maybe resorted to when desired.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation'of a portion of a freight car and the doorto which the invention has been applied.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation of a portion of the supporting rodshowing also, partly in section, a portion of the pole sup-Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 1, 1921.

Serial No. 455,327.

ported thereon, said pole being in tilted or inclined position.

Fig. 41 is a view in side elevation showing a portion of the supportingrod and a portion of the pole, the latter being in perpendicularposition.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5 5 in Fig. 4. i

Fig. 6 is a perspective detail view of the retaining clip or clamp usedin connection with the invention.

- Corresponding parts in the several figures are denoted by likecharacters of reference.

As shown in Fig. 1 the freight car 15 is provided with the usual andcustomary upper and lower tracks 16, 17 on which the car door 18 isadapted to travel. Secured upon the door near the upper end thereof is arod 19, said rod being approximately horizontally disposed near the topof the door from the face of which it is properly spaced. 20 designatesthe operating pole which is provided near its upper end with an eye 21engaging the rod 19 along which the pole may thus be moved. The pole isof such length that it will extend below the bottom of the door andpreferably also below the bottom of the car, said pole being bent at thelower end thereof to form a loop 22 constituting a handle whereby it maybe conveniently manipulated. The pole at the upper end thereof has aspindle 23 that extends above the rod 19 and on which an anti-frictionroller 24; is journaled, said roller engaging the face of the door abovethe rod 19. r

A retaining device for the pole 20 is provided, said retaining devicebeing in the nature of a sleeve 25 best seen in Fig. 6, said sleevehaving divergent resilient wings 26 each of which is provided with'sharpteeth 27 formed by serrating the edges thereof. As seen in Fig. 6 thedevice may be formed by bending a plate of resilient metal so as to formthe sleeve 25 and the wings 26 integral therewith, the sleeve thusconstituting a resilient clamp which, when mounted on the pole 20, willbe frictionally retained thereon in properly adjusted position.

When the invention is applied to a car door and the pole 20 is tilted asseen in Fig. 1, the upper and lower edges of the eye 21 will engage orbite into the rod 19 so that when the lower end of the pole 20 is pushedin the proper direction, there will not only be a slight lifting actionon the door, but the latter will also be pushed in the proper directionfor opening without danger of the pole 2O slipping along the rod. Thepole will also be retained in the proper position and bending of thepole will be prevented by the action of the clip including the sleeve 25which may be readily adjusted to the most convenient position forsuccessful operation. The clip will also prevent the lower end of therod from swinglng or swaying in a.

plane parallel to the face of the door while swinging of the lower endof the pole outwardly from the car door is prevented by the engagementof the anti-friction roller 2% with the face of the car door above therod 19. The clip will be held in engagement with. the vface on the cardoor by reason of the angular relation of the Wings 26 of such clip, asthe serrated ends of the wings will be forced into the door under thepressure on the rod in moving the door. When it shall be desired tochange the position of the pole with respect to the rod, the lower endof the pole is moved slightly outward from the door to disengage theclip after which the anti-friction roller will facilitate the travelingof the pole along the support-- ing rod 18. It is obvious that when thedoor is to be closed the pole will be moved to a tilted positionopposite to that shown in Fig. 1 while, when the car is traveling, thepole is preferably moved to a perpendicular position shown in Fig. 4;.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is:

1. The combination with a horizontally sliding door, of a rod securedacross said door in a substantially horizontal-position near the top, apole having an eye engaging the rod said pole having its upper end eX-tended above the rod and provided with a spindle, and an anti-frictionroller journaled on the spindle and engaging the door.

2.'The combination with a horizontally sliding door, of a rod securedacross said door in a substantially horizontal position near the top, apole having an eye engaging the rod and a sleeve slidable on the poleand having divergent resilient-serrated wings engaglng the face of thedoor.

3. The combination with a horizontally sliding door, of a rod securedacross said door in a substantiallp horizontal position near the top, apole having an eye engaging the rod, door engaging means on the poleabove the rod, and door-engaging means 'on the pole below the rod, bothsaid means providing that the portions of said pole above and belowtherod will be forced outward with respect to the face of the door,thereby a clamp adjustable on the pole below the rod, said clamp havingserrated wings engaging the face of the door.

5. The combinatlon with a horizonatlly shdmg door, of a rod securedacross said door near the top in a substantially hori-' zontal position,a pole slidably engaging the rod, and extending above and below thesame, an anti-friction roller at the upper end of the pole engaging theface of the door and a resilient clamping sleeve adjustable on the polebelow the rod, said sleeve having divergent resilient wings providedwith serrated edges engaglng the face of the door.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

DANIEL wQ MILLSAPS.

